“Yes; let us pretend.  Oh, grandfather, stop one moment!  Our castle, Arnold, shall be, first of all, the most beautiful studio in the world for you.  You shall have tapestry, blue china, armor, lovely glass, soft carpets, carved doors and painted panels, a tall mantelshelf, old wooden cabinets, silver cups, and everything else what one ought to like, and you shall choose everything for yourself, and never get tired of it.  But you must go on painting; you must never stop working, because we must be proud of you as well that you like.  Oh, but I have not done yet.  My grandfather is to have two rooms for himself, which he can fill with the books he will spend his time in collecting; Lala Roy will have two more rooms, quite separate, where he can sit by himself whenever he does not choose to sit with me; I shall have my own study to myself, where I shall go on reading mathematics; and we shall all have, between us, the most beautiful dining-room and drawing-room that you ever saw; and a garden and a fountain, and—­yes—­money to give to people who are not so fortunate as ourselves.  Will that do, Arnold?”

“Yes, but you have almost forgotten yourself, dear.  There must be carriages for you, and jewels, and dainty things all your own, and a boudoir, and nobody shall think of doing or saying anything in the house at all, except for your pleasure; will that do, Iris?”

“I suppose we shall have to give parties of some kind, and to go to them.  Perhaps one may get to like society.  You will teach me lawn-tennis, Arnold; and I should like, I think, to learn dancing.  I suppose I must leave off making my own dresses, though I know that I shall never be so well dressed if I do.  And about the cakes and puddings—­but, oh, there is enough pretending.”

“It is difficult,” said Lala Roy, “to bear adversity.  But to be temperate in prosperity is the height of wisdom.”

“And now suppose, Iris,” said Arnold “that the inheritance, instead of being thousands a year, is only a few hundreds.”

“Ah, then, Arnold, it will be ever so much simpler.  We shall have something to live upon until you begin to make money for us all.”

“Yes; that is very simple.  But suppose, again, that the inheritance is nothing but a small sum of money.”

“Why, then,” said Iris, “we will give it all to grandfather, who will pay off his creditor, and we will go on as if nothing had happened.”

“Child!” said Mr. Emblem, “do you think that I would take your little all?”

“And suppose, again,” Arnold went on, “that the inheritance turns out a delusion, and that there is nothing at all?”

“That cannot be supposed,” said Mr. Emblem quickly; “that is absurd!”

“If it were,” said Iris, “we shall only be, to-morrow, just exactly what we are to-day.  I am a teacher by correspondence, with five pupils.  Arnold is looking for art-work, which will pay; and between us, my dear grandfather and Lala Roy, we are going to see that you want nothing.”